The LA Clippers missed out on Robert Covington: What now?
With last night’s blockbuster deal going down, the LA Clippers missed out on one of their targets, Robert Covington. What’s their next move?
Last night saw the first real Woj bomb of the trade deadline as the Houston Rockets sent Clint Capela to Atlanta and brought in Robert Covington from Minnesota in a four-team trade. Covington was seen as a highly prized player at the deadline for many teams including the LA Clippers. Since they missed out on acquiring him, what do the Clippers do now?
The answer may have been in front of us the whole time, no matter how we feel about it. Marcus Morris is likely the move the Clippers end up making.
Morris was reportedly unavailable according to the Knicks even after the Clippers and others expressed interest in the veteran forward. However, the Knicks fired president Steve Mills yesterday and the team is now more likely to be in asset accumulation mode which means the likelihood of Morris being dealt has increased.
The writing has been on the wall since the summer. Morris was coveted by the team during free agency and although he opted to sign with the Knicks (after rebuking on a deal with the Spurs), the Clippers could still end up with their man.
There’s no denying what Morris could provide on the court for the Clippers. At 6’8″, he can play both forward positions and would likely slot in the four spot in the starting lineup next to Paul George and Kawhi Leonard. He has shot the ball well this year from deep, connecting on 43.9% of his 6.1 attempts from deep. In fact, he’s having a career year scoring-wise, putting up 19.6 points per game.
Obviously, his usage rate would dip if he were to join the Clippers but he offers a much bigger offensive threat then Maurice Harkless does while not being much of, if any, a drop off on the defensive side of the ball. Morris also brings playoff experience having been with the Boston Celtics his last two seasons.
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With just a little over 24 hours remaining until the trade deadline talks surrounding Morris are certain to heat up. We all think the Clippers will make some sort of move and Morris now is the most likely candidate.